i am doing some research on apricot kernels. i know oasis of hope uses them in their treatment, of course there is so much out there. i found this letter and just wanted to know what everyone thought and has had experience with.

Apparently it's laetrile that is used in cancer treatment therapies. The only negative information i've found about the substance is from websites that have a questionable interest in debunking it. I pasted a copy of the letter G. Edward Griffin wrote in response to a newspaper article debunking laetrile. At the bottom of the letter is a link to the website i thought was very interesting. Hope you enjoy it!

Letters to the Editor and Press Releases

Dated: January 11, 2001

Letter to the EditorLos Angeles Times

I am the Founder of The Cancer Cure Foundation, a non-profit organization that, for 26 years, has been dedicated to the task of compiling information on alternative cancer treatments from around the world.

I am in strong disagreement with the views expressed by Barrie Cassileth in the article entitled "Laetrile by Any Other Name Is Still Bogus" which appeared in your publication on January 1, 2001. Our findings are that Laetrile is among the best treatments for cancer that has ever been found. It does not work 100% of the time (what therapy does?), but our studies show that Laetrile is significantly more effective than radiation or chemotherapy.

Conventional medicine is losing the fight against cancer. After decades of research and the expenditure of billions of dollars, the cancer rate still continues to climb. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, second only to heart disease. Thirty-three percent of all women will develop cancer in their lifetime — fifty percent of all men! Virtually every family now is at risk. Conventional medicine is further from a cure for cancer than when the search began.

Your readers should be cautioned that Barrie Cassileth is employed by the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, which has a reputation for scientific fraud. In 1974, it was the scene of one of the greatest scientific scandals of the century. Dr. William Summerlin, one of the top-ranking researchers there, claimed to have found a way to prevent transplanted tissue from being rejected. To prove his case, he displayed white mice with square black patches of fur, claiming that skin grafts from black mice were now accepted by white mice. It was later discovered that he had created the black patches with a marker pen.

On a much more serious level was the well-publicized Laetrile test conducted at Sloan-Kettering in the 1970s. The final report stated there was no evidence that Laetrile was effective. However, employees inside Sloan-Kettering secretly sent copies of the actual lab reports to the press that proved just the opposite. Dr. Ralph Moss, who was Assistant Director of Public Affairs at Sloan-Kettering, was one of the whistle-blowers. He was fired because of it. The Sloan report was an insult to truth and a prostitution of science. A well-documented account of this episode is the chapter entitled "Genocide in Manhattan," in World without Cancer, by G. Edward Griffin. It will change your view regarding the integrity at Sloan-Kettering.

The Cancer Cure Foundation offers free information on over 100 alternative cancer therapies. Laetrile is just one of them.

I just bumped a topic named b17 which is another name for laetrile (the active compound in apricots) I wouldn't hold out much hope. Note that the letter you quote is now 9 years out of date.Age at diagnosis 66, PSA 5.5Biopsy 12/08 12 cores, 8 positiveGleason 3+4=7CAT scan, Bone scan 1/09 both negative.

Don't waste your time. This was touted years a go as clinics set up in Mexico to treat Cancer patients. They were all frauds and simply took money from people that had little hope and were grasping for anything.JohnT

64 years old.

PSA rising for 10 years to 40, free psa 10-15. Had 5 urologists, 12 biopsies and MRIS all neg. Doctors DXed BPH and continue to get biopsies yearly. 13th biopsy positive in 10-08, 2 cores of 25, G6 less than 5%. Scheduled for surgery as recommended by Urological Oncologist.

Combidex MRI in Holland eliminated lymphnode mets. Casodex and Proscar reduced psa to 0.6 and prostate from 60mm to 32mm. Changed diet, no meat and dairy. All staging tests indicate that tumor is local and non agressive. (PAP, PCA3, MRIS, Color Doppler, Combidex, tumor reaction to diet and Casodex, and tumor location in transition zone). Surgery a poor option because tumor is located next to the urethea and positive margin is very likely; permanent incontenance is also high probability with surgery.

Seed implants on 5-19-09, 3 hours door to door, no pain, minor side affects are frequency and urgency; very controlable with Flowmax and lasted 4 weeks. Daily activities resumed day after implants with no restrictions. Gold markers implanted with seeds to guide IMRT.

25 treatments of IMRT 6 weeks after seed implants. No side affects at all.

PSA at end of treatment 0.02 mostly the result of Casodex. When I stop Casodex next week expect PSA to rise. Next PSA in November. Treatments and side affects have greatly exceeded my expectations. Glad to have this 11 year journey finally conclude.

To qualify my earlier comment:-I tried on 2 separate occasions to test the efficacy of B17, in varying doses, each for a period of several months, to the exclusion of other snake oil 'can't fail' remedies, monitored with monthly PSA checks

chris nzDx Nov '03, age 61, 1 of 8 +, 3 + 3, PSA before biopsy 6.5.after biopsy PSA went 10.5 and stayed there. Tried a lot of the can't fail 'cures'. Found 'Prostasol' a version of PC Specs. PSA dropped to less than 1. Still tried other supplements but reverted back to 'P'. [ a herbal estrogen.] Had problems with hereditary Deep Vein Thrombosis, now on blood thinner.March '08, second biopsy, 3 of 10 + [10-50%], 3 + 4, PSA 1.0. T2A. Bone scan didn't show much, bone density showed early osteo in places.Had Brachytherapy Aug 23 08. 75 seeds, started work again 2 days laterPSA after 6 weeks 7.8PSA after 3 months 4.2, everything still working well, absolutely no problems. next check in May '09

Anyone who talks of Sloan-Kettering as "having a reputation for scientific fraud" has pretty much totally lost credibility. Add to that the fact that the "Cancer Cure Foundation" talks about "cures for cancer" as though what will cure one cancer will cure another one - complete waste of space.

Different cancers are completely different diseases. One may as well talk about "cure for disease" being available in a single chemical, herb or whatever. We prostate cancer patients know that our cancer doesn't really respond to chemotherapy, whereas for other cancers chemo is the best weapon available.

If I sound as though I am a complete cynic who regards "alternative therapies" as by and large dangerous bogusosity, then I sound like what I am. There's so much outstanding medical research being done today, and those who continue to promote nonsense like chiropractic, laetrile, and homeopathy as treatment regimens for cancer are doing great damage to patients who need real hope, and who may as a result of trying ineffectual therapies delay effective treatment until it is no longer feasible.

For more discussion on junk "healing" ideas, I heartily recommend perusing the website of Skeptic's Dictionary and looking up "alternative medicine."

Chinito,Laeitrile failed miserably in multiple studies that were controlled dating all the way back to the 80's. I remember Michael Landon going to Mexico for the treatment and dying a short time later. Apricot seeds can also be toxic if taken in high dose. I believe that the danger is cyanide poisoning. if someone is given a death sentence from cancer, I would not fault anybody for trying just about anything. I know your husband is far from that diagnosis and I would never recommend this as a treatment option for him.

BTW. MSK is right near the top in cancer centers in the world. But this "doctor" certainly is not so well recognized.

I was taken by this statement in the letter in Chinto's starting post:

Griffin said...

Conventional medicine is losing the fight against cancer. After decades of research and the expenditure of billions of dollars, the cancer rate still continues to climb.

Of course, in that same time, many people have spent large sums of money on alternative therapies, so we could equally argue that alternative medicine is losing the fight against cancer.

I haven't heard of any cures that have come from alternative therapies -- at least none that stand up to scientific scrutiny. And the scientific studies that have been done on alternatives have concluded that they are ineffective and sometimes dangerous.

By contrast, conventional medicine does have it's successes, modest though they be. I am "cured" of colon cancer, and am sure that without conventional medicine I would be dead now. Many of us here who have had conventional treatment will prove to be "cured" of PCa in the sense that we can stave it off long enough to succumb to something else. The long-term statistics confirm that -- I haven't seen any statistics for the alternatives. If there was an alternative that actually worked, it would soon become "conventional".

So rather than spend our money on alternatives, I suggest we spend it instead on beer and hamburger -- same cure rate, but some added enjoyment at the same time Pre-op:Age 63 at diagnosis, now 64.No symptoms; PSA 5.7; Gleason 4+5=9; cancer in 4 of 12 cores.Operation:Non-nerve sparing RRP on 7 March 2008.Two nights in hospital; catheter out after 7 days.Post-op:Continent; no pads needed from the get-go.Pathology showed organ confined and negative margins. Gleason downgraded to 4+4=8.PSAs:6-week : <0.057-month: <0.0513-month: 0.07 (start of a trend?)19-month: 0.09 (maybe)ED:After a learning curve, Bimix injections (0.2ml) worked well. From 14 months, occasional nocturnal erections. Have "graduated" to just the pump.